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Leadership for Women
Often as women’s leaders, we are so busy about the tasks, that we don’t always stop to listen before we speak and get angry. I am sure that doesn’t describe you, but I know it does me. Dawn Stephens, Associate Minister of Local Disciplemaking and Women’s Small Groups at in Birmingham, Alabama, writes some great thoughts for us to consider as we lead teams and minister to many women in our church and community.
As I have been brought back to the book of James, several times lately, I have had the opportunity to read James 1:19 and really ask God what does it mean for me.
“My dear brothers, take note of this, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Here are some thoughts He is teaching me, I’d like to pass onto you:
How do I become “quick” to listen?
Is it by daily asking God to help me put aside the distractions of this crazy, media, internet fueled culture so my mind is clear to recognize the need to listen?
Is it by taking daily time for solitude and silence so I know when I “hear” His voice which trains me to be a better listener to the voices of others?
Is it asking my spouse and child questions that force me to listen to their current struggles, needs, questions and celebrations of daily life?
Is it being much more intentional to give focused time to people in whatever conversations come my way each day?
I think it is all these things……..
How do I become slow to speak?
Is it by measuring every word that I use in a conversation to ensure that it is accurate, edifying and appropriate?
Is it by thinking of the one I am talking to first instead of “my thoughts and perspectives” on the topic at hand?
Is it asking questions that help me better understand my friend and their need to be heard?
Is it not talking during the conversation and doing more listening?
How do I become slow to become angry?
Is it asking God daily to help me not jump to my conclusions and opinions?
Is it asking God daily to help me always see the other person’s side of the coin first before mine?
Is it asking God to help me quickly discern areas of unforgiveness in my life before they become a root of bitterness and a place of constant unresolved anger?
These are just some questions that I have been asking myself that you might also ask yourself and see what God reveals from His Word to you, his child……………………..
Dawn has been involved in women’s ministry in both volunteer and staff positions for many years. She is the Associate Minister of Local Disciplemaking and Women’s Small Groups at The Church at Brook Hills, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her desire is to train, equip and encourage women to use their God given gifts and abilities to show Christ’s love and grace to our world. She graduated from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Women’s Ministry certificate program, has served on the Alabama Baptist State Women’s Ministry leadership team, and serves as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. In addition to her work at LifeWay, Christina serves as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. She is a member of Simeon Baptist Church in Antioch where she teaches Sunday school and provides training for staff and ministry leaders. She is also pursuing a doctorate in Christian Education and Leadership at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. She has a passion for discipleship that leads to spiritual transformation, and helping others experience God in their hearts and lives.
Resources:
James
Praying God’s Word
Discerning the Voice of God
Frazzled Female
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
I read LifeWay President Dr. Thom Rainer’s blog post titled " I Am a Leader" and felt he has such great points for me personally, and for anyone in leadership. I wanted to use that as a starting point for this blog post. Take time to read through his post first.
Now, let’s each ask ourselves (and perhaps use this as a team activity) the following questions:
1. Is doing what is right my first priority? Regardless of how else I spend my time leading, do I put what I know to be right as the first step always?
2. Am I looking at those I lead and who serve with me to accomplish what we believe God has directed us to do as real people and not just bodies to get the work done?
3. Do I treat my leadership role seriously, as a stewardship of what God has entrusted to me? Do I really understand it’s not about me but about Him?
4. Is the direction and purpose for our ministry clear? Is our conviction about the purpose obvious?
5. Am I continuing to learn as I lead¸ knowing I will never have all the answers? Always seeking to become a better leader?
6. Do I lead with courage, especially in the face of tough decisions?
7. In humility, do I seek to serve those I lead? Or do I lead from a position of power?
8. Is Jesus my example from whom I pattern my leadership? Do I look to His leadership style as my goal?
These are some great questions that we all need to answer from time to time as we continue to lead teams of women who lead women who………
What questions to you ask of yourself as a leader, and your team with whom you serve?
Resources:
Transformed Lives
Women Reaching Women
Lead Like Jesus
Jesus on Leadership
Spiritual Leadership
One of the main goals for a women’s leader is to equip leaders and develop an effective leadership team. We CANNOT and SHOULD NOT do ministry alone! Reach guest blogger’s post today for some great advice to lead teams well. Simone Monroe is the director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX
What gives a team the edge it needs to be successful – to make it just a little better than the rest? I believe the difference is leadership. As John Maxwell so often says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. Leaders lead their team to new levels, managers maintain the status quo. These new levels are not achieved by sitting back and giving directives.
Numerous elements are involved in strong leadership, but there are three absolute essentials:
1. Foundational to strong leadership is the element of good communication. Notice I didn’t say communication. Communication is often poor or even damaging. A strong leader must develop skills to become a good communicator in order to breathe life into the team. An effective leader’s communication must be clear, consistent, concise– all of which help to eliminate frustration, distrust, and lack of cooperation. Good communication is life-giving to a team. I believe it to be the single all-purpose instrument of leadership.
2. The second essential of leadership is becoming a better leader. A leader must first grow before she can effectively grow others. Growth involves change and becoming more effective by holding oneself to higher standards, and living and leading at new levels. I like to refer to this growth as Leadership IQ. It involves developing and communicating vision, modeling standards set for the team, seeing farther and more quickly than others, anticipating what is about to happen in your ministry “culture” and, especially understanding people, because leadership is about developing people, not accomplishing tasks. Different people have different passions, respond differently to the same challenge, and require different motivation. A good leader is able to read people and find the key that releases their potential instead of restricting it. Once you add value to yourself by growing as a leader, you will be able to influence and add value to your team.
3. The third and most pivotal essential in successful leadership is investment in your team. When a leader realizes that “one does not have to be the leader to be a leader on the team”, the necessity of adding value to, investment in the team, becomes apparent. Even if you do not have a budget, you can invest in the team. Investment in team members pays off as they become more unselfish, more enthusiastic, more confident, more self-directed, and more effective. In other words, investment in the team leads to the team functioning at a higher level.
You may ask, how can you invest in your team?
· First, decide to invest in the team because investment takes time- Your Time.
· Do things together as a team- this ensures the growth of the team by providing community. The pay off for volunteering is community. This connection between people as more than teammates gives the needed commitment to one another as individuals not just because they are teammates. It becomes about relationship, not about a job.
· Empower them with responsibility and authority. This builds trust and confidence.
· Give them the credit for the team successes. This builds morale which gives momentum.
· Stop investing in players who do not grow.
· Create new opportunities for team- it should not stay stagnate (same people, same jobs, same responsibilities) forever. Find new people, create new job opportunities, and give established team members new responsibilities and challenges.
By investing in your team, you allow the team to stretch and guarantee movement to a higher level. If you want to build a great team over a long period of time, you must train your team and invest in them as individuals. This provides for team growth and new levels of accomplishment.
Simone Monroe is the director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX, a Global Strategist for ProvenWay Ministries and LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. As a speaker, conference leader, and freelance writer, she is also a member of the Association of Women’s Ministry Professionals. Simone has earned a Masters degree in Christian Leadership and a Certificate in Women’s Leadership from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, TX. Simone’s passion is teaching and developing women to fulfill their God-given potential. She enjoys presenting God's Word in a fresh and relevant way in order to encourage growth in the lives of her listeners. Her two sons, their wives, and her five grandchildren are the light of her life.
Resources:
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
The Team that Jesus Built, Janet Thompson
On Track Leadership, John Kramp
The Leadership Call, Jeff Iorg
Several times on this blog we have addressed accountability as a leader. Today, women’s leader Elizabeth Scholes challenges us once again to seek out an accountability “truth teller” to help us grow as a follower of Christ and leader of women.
Do you have a truth teller in your life? Someone who speaks truth to you, even when you may not like to hear it? I hope you do! I had one of those less than desirable moments several weeks ago from my favorite truth teller, my sweet man. I was doing a workout at home when he quietly mentioned to me that I was not getting the full effect of a certain exercise. Then, of course, he proceeded to show me how it should correctly be done. A couple of those repetitions and I was groaning and wanting to go back to my fake way! Then I realized that my way of faking it through the exercise was not going to benefit me like doing it the correct way. The moment I feel any sense of discomfort I take that as my cue to stop. If it hurts it can’t be good for me, right? The familiar motto, “No pain, no gain” came to mind.
As a walked around with sore muscles the next few days the Spirit of God nudged my heart and told me that I also approached much of my spiritual walk the same way – going halfheartedly through the “exercises” but stopping short of anything that might stretch me or be the least bit painful. Apparently I am not only one who has this problem because Timothy mentioned it in his letter to the early Church also, “Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (I Timothy 4:7b-8). I like the way the Message also reads: “ Exercise daily in God – no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.”
In staying true to His character, God then urged me to do something that really pushes me past my comfort – the discipline of memorizing Scripture. I felt His conviction about this particular area of my spiritual life and wouldn’t you know that the very next day I began a bible study that came with the challenge of memorizing the entire book of James. “Yes Lord, I get your message loud and clear.” I can tell you that this has stretched me and caused me to move past “the burn” in order to take hold of what God has called me to do. His sweet and most powerful grace has accompanied me through this and at this writing I have 31 verses memorized. This training myself for godliness is hard. It requires my time, my energy, my focus, my discipline and most importantly, my love for Christ. But His return on it is good and abundant!
As you and I lead women, we have to be spiritual fit in order to spur on others. Years ago when I was a young teenager, a wise pastor spoke into my life and said, “Leaders take people to places where they won’t otherwise go on their own.” That description has never been far from my mind. If I walked into a weightlifting class only to find my instructor to be weak and without muscle, I would have a serious lack of confidence in what that class could offer me. In the same way, we have to be the models of this spiritual fitness and discipline, not only for the delight we will receive from knowing Christ, but also for the benefit of those we are leading.
How about you? Are you always up for a challenge or are you like me, ready to stop at the first conviction, when you encounter that difficult person to minister to, or face an unforeseen twist in your story? I Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race al the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” There is a prize for us if we pursue godliness, girls! Are you on a lollygag journey with Christ, or are you training yourself for godliness in pursuit of that most glorious prize?
Elizabeth Scholes serves on the Women by Design leadership team at Noland Road Baptist Church in Independence, MO. She has a passion for ministering to moms and encouraging women to engage in personal Bible study. Elizabeth received an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in vocal music and now also spends time teaching a small private voice studio. Her husband, Conor, is the Associate Pastor of Worship at their church. They have two young sons, Caleb and Jack.
Resources:
Heart Friends: Beginning and Maintaining a Small Accountability Group.
Transformed Lives
Women Reaching Women
For a number of years I served on a church staff seeking to lead in the areas of missions and women’s ministry. I remember sometimes just getting to a point and needing something to give me a shot in the arm to keep moving ministry forward. Annually I would attend, and normally take leaders to, a leadership conference. Even though I tried to come back and use everything I heard and then realized I couldn’t, I always came back refreshed and excited about continuing to serve in ministry.
If you lead a women’s team or direct the ministry for women, you too may have experienced this. One of the things I felt was of utmost importance when serving on a staff, was that we needed to invest time and budget into leadership training for our team. When we met monthly, I always shared some leadership lesson or tip before we began sharing ministry reports. As often as possible, we also went away to retreat with our team and other times to attend someone else’s leadership training. It was always so worth the time and effort and our ministry reflected that.
If you are looking for a place to take your leaders for training, let me introduce you to LifeWay Women’s training event, YOU Lead. This takes place as a preconference training event to a Living Proof Live Event with Beth Moore. We encourage leaders to come and bring their team a day early to attend training, then have the rest of their women join them Friday for the Living Proof Event. This way your team spends time bonding and praying together, then joins the others for 2 days of connecting and being spiritually fed, challenged and refreshed.
This year we have offered a price discount for the for those leaders who sign up for both Living Proof and YOU Lead ($55 as opposed to $79 or $89 for YOU Lead. Living Proof is $65).
Each location has some topics that will always be offered such as the Basics of Women’s Ministry, Ministering to Women in Crisis, and Engaging the Younger Woman in Ministry. Other topics are different depending on the location and trainers who will lead. But each one is designed with you the leader in mind. Our prayer is to minister to you and equip you as you serve the Lord faithfully.
Let us know how we can help and we hope to see many of you at one of our locations for 2012:
Lewiston, ME
We do hope to see you there. In the mean time, join us live for one of our LifeWay Women Live webcasts for leaders, or watch them after they are recorded.
Let us know in the comments what kind of training, webcasts or even blog posts would be most helpful to you as a women’s ministry leader and we will try to help you find answers to your leadership needs.
Resources:
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
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